By: Melissa Eckert


What is TPR?


Through active participation, students learn new action words by watching, imitating and responding to the teacher's commands.

TPR stands for Total Physical Response.Dr. Asher calls this "a language-body conversation". According to Wikipedia, Total physical response (TPR) is a method developed by Dr. James Asher, this method relies on the assumption that when learning a second language. Students respond to commands that require physical movement.

How to implement it into your classroom:


When teaching ELL students giving them instructions that go along with a song helps them to understand, what is being asked of them. This song has different movements that the students imitate.

Why TPR?

Through total physical response, students are able to comprehend in a way that doesn't necessarily require language.

Examples of TPR:

Simon Says
Action words such as: "stand up," "sit down," and "wave good-bye"
Songs
Touch-math
Pointing